this time around, i partnered up with laura jennings to shoot "beets & peas". this was not the visual direction i had started in, but after a few hours just sort of ended up here. it was cool combining two totally different vegetables and it gave me a chance to use a new table cloth i had just picked up. check out the full project HERE .

i meet a lot of people on my photo adventures, and every now and again, i meet family that is just sooo freakin' cool it almost totally renews my lost faith in humanity. The Ujjyana tea peeps, Miguel, Nicole and their daughter Eva are one of these families. Ujjyana (oo-khee-ahna) meaning "drink" in quechue is a brand new portland company. they spent the afternoon is my (sweltering) studio yesterday as we did some new product shots. and i gotta say, we had a blast. so check out their tea, available at new seasons and many other spots around pdx. or look em up HERE .

this year, the misses and i went down to watch the rodeo in St. Paul Oregon. it was a beautiful day, and for a city slicker such as myself, and a pretty interesting and amazing experience. I definitely got my fill of cowboy hats, anti Obama sentiment, livestock of all kinds and unadulterated christianity for one year. See ya next July 4th.

so a few months ago, i get a random email from a magazine in Russia looking for some Portland restaurant photos for a story. seemed a little random and more than a little dodgy, so i wrote back and said sure, i have images, you guys wanna buy some? here was they're response, possibly the greatest email i have ever received in my professional career:

Dear Braine,Yes, we pay . We are interesting in pictures when we can feel city throw cafes, restaurant , food markets. It can be everything with food on it. Also we are writing about hipsters...)))So, if you have pictures like hipsters seating in nice cafe in the city center –will be grate!)

All the best,Yana

not quite sure where the "Braine" came from, since every other email they address me as david. but at this point, they can have anything they want because that was awesome. in the long run, i did a little research and Afish Eda, the magazine in question, is probably the best food culture magazine in the Eastern hemisphere. the portland article is about 10 pages long with tons of photos. since its completely in russian, i have no idea what they are saying, but i hope to god its about all the hipsters....